Fruitful thinking

Ryan Simpson believes the world is our orchard. A project that began over a pint in his local is making the county more fruity

- Sarah Rodi

“I love foraging, and while out with my dogs in the Thames Valley, I used to think how nice it would be for people to be able to forage apples and plums while out walking,” says Ryan Simpson from Lower Earley.

A design director of a global events company, married to Hollie and with three “furry kids” – rescue pugs – Ryan says: “I love the greenery and open spaces in Berkshire, especially Simon’s Wood and the Loddon River. But each time I walked the dogs I began to wonder why there wasn’t more fruit growing in the area. I started to think about how we could make more fruit freely available.”

Around the same time, Ryan had visited a food bank and seen that they’d had apples delivered from New Zealand. The fruit was fine, but because it was past its sell-by date, it went to landfill. “It was staggering. All that produce, all the air miles... what a waste. I thought there had to be a better way. Surely we could grow more fruit in our own country?”